


Reaching out.

by Ratsnoot



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics)
Genre: Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, zombots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22792396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ratsnoot/pseuds/Ratsnoot
Summary: Sonic hasn`t touched another living soul since becoming infected with the metal virus, his brief contact with Tangle before she stayed behind in Spiral hill were more important than we realised.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	Reaching out.

**Author's Note:**

> (I just wanted to delve a little deeper into the emotional happenings with both Sonic and Tangle in this issue (#24) follows comic dialogue as well as covering Tangle encountering Jewel)

Tangle swallowed and took a deep breath of her familiar hometown air, forcing herself to relax in the face of the situation. Amy had sent her, Whisper, and Espio to tackle the zomots while the handful of survivors were plucked out by Tails and Cream. 

**Survivors.**

She shuddered at the words` implication, the zombots weren`t _ dead _ , they weren`t gone… Tails was working on a cure, Sonic could already run off his infection, they`d take some hits but it would all be okay in the end. The alternative was too surreal to even consider, it had all happened so fast she simply couldn`t accept that more than two thirds of their forces were claimed as mindless metal monsters already. 

A sound behind her alerted her to an approaching assailant. Tail at the ready, she swung up on to a lamp post and out of reach.

“Ah-ah! No touchie!” Tangle chided from her safe place, feeling a twist in her gut as she recognised Ron the rabbit from the chilli dog stand, usually so relaxed but now savagely rattling her post and snarling in a predatory manner. “Talk about hangry heh…” It wasn`t fair, felt wrong to be joking, especially at the expense of her own townsfolk. 

Snatching a dustbin from outside a shop with a shattered storefront, she dumped it over Ron`s head and deftly kicked the blinded zombot into a garden, slamming the gate shut behind him. Yet another clatter and a shriek sounded from around the street she had just come from and she hesitated, wanting to go back but couldn`t. She had to see for herself what she already knew but like everything else, just couldn`t accept it for its horridness. 

Guiltily, she turned back the way she was going and set off again to the museum. 

The building was seemingly undamaged, the outside at least looked peaceful as ever; a quaint little tourist attraction tucked away in a small street in a small town. A hidden gem, just as _ she _ had always liked it.

“Jewel?” Tangle called warily, opening the door and stepping inside. “Jewel it`s me, Tangle, we gotta go the evac shuttle is here we don`t have much time, don`t worry zombots don`t want shiny stones they have no taste!” The last words Tangle had heard from the sweet beetle were desperate and whispered. 

_ “Th-there`s one in the museum, I can hear it… I have to go, I`ll see you soon.” _

Then the call had gone silent. She hadn`t heard anything since then but refused to assume the worst despite the zero chances of escape. The optimistic lemur trod with quiet care through the displays of gemstones, ears pricked for any sounds of movement. 

Finally, she laid eyes on a cascade of shattered glass littered around a shattered display case, and there, huddled in the wreckage with her shell gleaming bright as ever, was Jewel. 

With a gasp of relief Tangle flung herself at the beetle, arms open to scoop her up in an embrace, only noticing a second before touching her the metallic spikes decorating her shell like a mace. Jewel turned to face her friend as the startled lemur slammed into the broken case instead of the robotic beetle. The zombot hissed a high pitch sound and lunged at Tangle, sharp claws tearing at her shirt and raking her shoulder. 

“No!  **NO!** Dammit Jewel!” Distraught, Tangle could only back away in horror as the beetle rose into the air with a whirr of sharp wings. She had to keep her from any further harm, keep her contained like Charmy, but better. Jewel would never forgive herself if she hurt anyone, Tangle had to stop her. Thinking fast, she ran to one of the high security cabinets and punched in the access code, she`d worked with Jewel long enough to know them all. Leaping in, she danced about and yelled. “Hey! Over here! Come and get me!” Buzzing filled the air and the zombot beetle dutifully followed the sound of her taunts, zooming toward her with claws outstretched. At the last second, Tangle dropped out of the case and ducked as a silver bullet shot overhead and into the case. Punching the lock she secured the zombot, buzzing angrily, inside. 

Mission accomplished, Tangle sank to the floor, trembling uncontrollably. Jewel had always been there for her, and she had always been there for Jewel… Well, she tried to be, but nothing like _ this  _ had ever happened, no real danger or catastrophy. This was unfixable, Jewel was  **gone.**

A coldness had settled within her chest, a slowly spreading feeling of constriction. She couldn`t breathe. Forcing herself to inhale and gulp down air, the dazed lemur rubbed her chest and froze, a new realisation catching her. 

Jewel`s sharp little claws had touched her. Maybe only for a split second but it was enough. Scrambling to her feet, Tangle pulled down her shirt and looked at her reflection in one of the glass cases. Sure enough, a small patch of her white fur was already dotted with silver flecks of metal. 

“Just couldn`t leave me out of the party could you?” She shot a rueful grin at her zombot friend, her initial horror fading to be replaced by a steely sense of determination. The virus had taken friend after friend, and now she would be joining them. Tangle had always imagined herself as the surviving hero, the one to save the day and bring about the cure. It had somehow never truly occurred to her that she would fall victim to it, it felt surreal. Instead, both her and Jewel being turned just made her even more sure that a cure would be found, this wasn`t the end. 

The alternative was too much to take in. So she didn`t. Simple as that. 

. . .

Elsewhere in Spiral hill, a familiar blue blur had joined in on the action, helping whoever he saw. As much as he loved his friends, seeing them was filling him with guilt. Espio was right, it was his fault this was happening. Sonic had been so hopeful for Mr Tinker. The former Doctor still frightened the flighty hedgehog, but he knew that that was purely down to his own history with Eggman. Mr Tinker seemed genuinely happy to be helping his neighbors and inventing adventurous playgrounds that Sonic himself found enticing. 

Despite all that, though, this Starline figure had resurrected the tyrannical Doctor, and only achieved doing so because Sonic had let his metal double go loose even after he had, once again, nearly killed them all. 

He was tired of seeing enemies everywhere, tired of so much hostility, tired of always assuming the worst. Could he really not trust anyone? Was risking redemption such a price to pay? He let his frustration lend him strength to shove a door shut on a hoard of zombots battling to get close to the evacuation shuttle, but was saved from struggling further by a falling lamppost, sealing the door shut. Looking up he saw Whisper, wispon smoking from the recent blast. She gave him a small smile, and he grinned, returning her thumbs up. 

Ears pricked, he raced off toward the restoration shuttle to get a briefing from Amy, knowing she would know where he could be the most help. Despite the guilt, he wanted to see his friends again, he wanted to apologise to Tails for losing the much needed data he had supposed to bring him on the metal virus. As much as it would hurt to see the little fox`s disappointment, he had to own up to his mistake. With that hanging over him, he arrived at the evacuation point. 

. . .

With her newfound sense of purpose, Tangle had thrown herself into the fight again, yelling taunts and tossing caution to the wind. It was after one of her jibes at the ever increasing number of zombots that an ally arrived at last. None other than Sonic himself, knocking enemies left and right. 

“Anyone in need of a rescue?” 

“Nah I`m fine!” 

“I mean your neighbours!” 

“Oh yeah!” Tangle couldn`t help the bitter sting in her laugh. “Ha! Nah the block is clear.”

“Amy`s calling for retreat, but the minute we stop causing a ruckus all over town…”

“The zombots will head straight for the big, noisy shuttle. Not good.” She had already surveyed the situation and figured the best way to buy them all time, now all she had to do was sell it. 

“They blocked everything off except one avenue. Any ideas on how to plug the bottleneck?”

“I sure do!” A zombot lunged for her and she flipped out of reach. “Step one: you pick me up.” Sonic sailed overhead and sent the assailant flying back with a kick. “Step two: I wrap my tail around one of the lampposts.” She coiled her tail in eager anticipation. “Step three: You wind us between the lampposts and use my tail as a tripwire!” 

“Yeah that could work. Except for- y`know-  **you getting infected!”** Sonic sounded strained, not even angry, just desperate. 

“Oh that?” Tangle blew a raspberry and waved off his argument with a lightheartedness she didn`t feel. “I already got it covered. I checked on my friend Jewel first thing when we got into town. She was already infected and got the jump on me.” She pointed to the display case where Jewel was still trapped. “I`ve been holding back, trying to keep from turning too fast.” She turned back to the stunned hedgehog and tugged her shirt aside to show the spreading silver patch. “But I`m not going to last much longer.” 

. . .

_ “I`m not going to last much longer.”  _

Sonic stared at the now all too familiar patch of metal coating the lemur`s shoulder. What could he do? What could he possibly say to make this any better? 

“Tangle… I`m sorry.” 

“What for? It`s not your fault!” She shot back. But the more he thought about it, it was. 

“Isn`t it? If I`d listened to Shadow and… Or if I hadn`t let Metal Sonic go…” Another bout of apologies was on the tip of his tongue, but he was caught off guard by a whiplash of a tail sailing past, inches from his face. The sound of a zombot clattering back let him know that Tangle had sent the attacker flying, now she was sidling up to him smugly. 

**“You** didn`t bring Eggman back. That was Starline. **You** made sure Metal was harmless.  **Eggman** weaponized him again.” Sonic looked away, feeling utterly unworthy of her argument. 

“Yeah, and I haven`t been able to protect my friends, or anyone else.” He didn`t want to upset her, but she had to understand that he couldn`t save her, he just wanted to get the pain of the disappointment out of the way. It was so much easier to be bitter. Relentless, the lemur continued to smirk at him with unwavering confidence. 

“Yeah?” She echoed. “Then I guess nobody`s guarding that shuttle full of nothing?” He met her gaze and felt a familiar resilient spark of daring ignite within him. Daring to hope for better, letting himself be open and vulnerable to more hurt and let down, but better equipped to fight for positivity. 

“Tangle, you…” Sonic gave a small laugh and raised a challenging eyebrow at her. “You`re not going to let this get to you, are you?” 

**“Never!** Because you`re Sonic the hedgehog. You`ll set this right, I  **know** you will.” Tangle held her hand out to him, reaching out. “Now, less moping and more moving!” He took her palm and in one fluid motion scooped her up, feeling her solid weight in his arms. 

“Yes, ma`am!” He felt her buzz of excitement as she latched onto a lamppost with her dexterous tail, and beamed as she cried out as they sped between the other posts, leaving a network of furry tripwires for the zombots to tackle. 

“Okay-okay-okay! No more! You`re gonna pull my butt off!” The lemur laughed breathlessly, rubbing her rear gingerly as he quickly set her down. “That should hold long enough for you to skedaddle at least. So… Um…” Finally, he heard the catch in her voice and he felt his own throat clog with emotion. “Tell the others I`m sorry. Especially Whisper, she`s gonna take it  _ really _ hard.” 

“Sure thing. Thanks for everything.” They both looked to one-another. Two infected fighters, the damage was done, how could a hug be bad? 

. . .

Tangle`s vision was blurring with tears, the next thing she knew she had her arms wrapped tightly around her hero. Her hero who could keep fighting and look after Whisper, find a cure and save Jewel, her hero who felt so tense, who was practically vibrating with last resort nervous energy. Up close, she could see just how near he was to collapse, clinging to her for support. She wanted to hold on and let him rest, hold on and let him comfort her back, but the world needed her hero for just a little longer. Despite it being the last thing she wanted to do, she pushed him away, not daring to look him in the eye. 

“Alright! Alright! Get moving!” 

. . . 

It struck him then, heart thudding against the lemurs` chest, feeling her body heat and fur wrap around him, he hadn`t so much as brushed another living soul since his infection. An overwhelming loneliness he had been unaware he had even been bearing melted away. The cold isolation that had been spreading along with the metal virus left him for those precious moments, and he clung on to the sensation for dear life, before it was out of his reach again. He blinked in confusion, feeling lost. 

“Alright! Alright! Get moving!” 

“Tangle…”

“I told you, I got this! Go!” He understood why she had pushed him away, they both could have stayed there, but others needed them, their  **friends** needed them. If he didn`t leave now, they wouldn`t have the strength to carry on. He had to honour her, as she had honoured him with her faith in him. Wordlessly, he turned about and headed to the shuttle, and despite the burn of his heart tearing apart with grief, he felt the hot fire of hope re-kindle. With heroes like Tangle, there was no way the world would fall to metal virus. Not to the likes of them. 

**Author's Note:**

> self indulgent One shot. might do more of these in the future because I love writing for these characters and it makes good practice. Will be sloppy af lmao


End file.
